1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a ceramic burner, particularly such a burner for a hot-blast stove of a blast furnace. The invention also relates to a hot-blast stove having such a ceramic burner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A ceramic burner of a hot blast stove is located in the combustion shaft of the stove. German patent specification No. 1,803,984 illustrates a ceramic burner having parallel vertical supply ducts for the two components of combustion, namely combustion gas and combustion air, wherein a first supply duct opens upwardly at a substantially oblong first outlet and the second supply duct opens at second outlets arranged in two sets above and on either side of the first outlet, the discharge directions of the second outlets being oblique to that of the first outlet.
In burners for hot blast stoves, it is of major importance that scarcely any combustible components of the combustion gas should be left unburned. To avoid nuisance to the environment, strict limitations are imposed in this respect by the authorities in various countries. On the other hand, it is also important that the surplus of air for combustion should be kept as low as possible, in order to achieve the highest possible temperature of the gaseous combustion products. To achieve both these aims, it is necessary for the combustion components to be thoroughly and uniformly mixed together as they leave the openings of the burner.
The above-mentioned German specification describes a burner in which the first outlet has a wholly rectangular shape, and the first set of second outlets are located at a distance from those of the second set. This causes the combustion ingredients discharged from the various outlets to flow through and alongside one another, as a result of which they become mixed together. It now appears that this mixing can be further improved.